This, I quickly realised, was the
extraordinary cultural phenomenon that is Les Miserables in action.
Critics can argue over whether it is Claude-Michel Schonberg’s rousing
score, Herbert Kretzmer’s English-language lyrics or the original
staging by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, but Les Mis, as it is known to
its army of fans, is a musical that gets under the skin.

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You can go in not knowing a single note
but you’ll come out singing at least five different songs. ‘Can you hear
the people sing?’ asks the chorus repeatedly. Well, 60 million people
in 42 different countries already have.

Tom Hooper’s stunning new film
adaptation can only add to the stunning – and somewhat surprising –
popularity of a musical that owes its origins to the 1862 novel of the
same less-than-inspiring name, written by Victor Hugo and set in the
post-revolutionary France of the mid-19th Century. It is a tale of
disappointment, betrayal and death and yet audiences love it.

Doomed: When Anne Hathaway, as poor, doomed Fantine, sings, in a high fragile, faltering voice, it will break your heart

Comedic input: Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier in the movie

In bringing it to the screen, Hooper,
who in 2011 won the Oscar for Best Director for The King’s Speech, made
two bold and quite brilliant decisions. Faced with a production in which
all but perhaps a dozen lines of dialogue are sung rather than spoken,
he decided to use actors rather than singers and then got them to sing
. . . for real, in each and every take. If there has been any clever
tinkering in the dubbing suite afterwards, you certainly can’t hear it.

The result is truly transformative. You
go to see the stage musical because you want to hear the finest singing:
you’ll go to see the film because the raw emotions of Hugo’s
tragedy-laced story shine through as never before.

The movie, which stars Anne Hathaway, was shot with live singing rather than miming

Susan Boyle brought a
tear to the eye when she famously belted out I Dreamed A Dream on
Britain’s Got Talent but when Anne Hathaway, as poor, doomed Fantine,
sings it here, in a high, fragile, faltering voice, it will break your
heart. Australian actor Hugh Jackman takes on the central role of Jean
Valjean and does so so wonderfully that awards are surely certain to be
showered upon him.

Jackman is almost unrecognisable for the
first 15 minutes when Valjean, a convict who has served 19 years for
stealing a single loaf of bread, is finally released from prison. But,
slowly, his handsome features emerge as the decades pass and, having
broken the terms of his parole by taking on an assumed name, he becomes a
successful businessman and Mayor of Montreuil.

It is here that he meets the once
beautiful Fantine, now working as a prostitute, taking on responsibility
first for her and then in due course for her daughter, Cosette, played
initially by Isabelle Allen and then later, as an adult, by Mamma Mia!
actress Amanda Seyfried. But strive as Valjean might to be redeemed for
his past sins, he runs the constant risk of being un-masked by his
arch-enemy, Inspector Javert, a policeman who never forgets a face.

Russell Crowe plays Javert and does so
with commendable courage. Like one or two other members of the cast, he
doesn’t have the strongest singing voice but he’s in tune, and, most
importantly, positively oozes the sort of malevolence that this crucial
part requires.

Hathaway’s commitment to what is very
much a supporting part is even more impressive. As one of the most
beautiful actresses in Hollywood, she sacrifices two of her crowning
glories – her hair and her figure – to the role of Fantine. As the tears
roll down her sunken cheeks, it is, of course, entirely right that her
voice breaks with emotion. And, by the time this epic picture ends (be
warned, it runs for almost 2 hours and 40 minutes) her cheeks won’t be
the only damp ones, I can promise you that.

Of course, it won’t be for everyone:
musical theatre-cum-light opera never is. There may even be die-hard
fans of Les Mis who take exception to their favourites being sung a
little less tunefully than they are used to. But I’m convinced Hooper’s
vital, visceral, mould-breaking production will win new fans.

Stars cast: Isabelle in a scene with Helena Bonham Carter (left) and Sacha Baron Cohen in the adaptation which is truly transformative

Relevant: Even though the movie is set in 19th century France it resonates powerfully with the 21st century revolutionary struggles in the Middle East, and even here